Favorite Schools

Favorite Teams

Before Oregon Ducks hope to control South Dakota, they'll tackle their nerves

20133108_sp.uofb_033.jpg

Oregon Ducks linebacker Torrodney Prevot (86) pressures Nicholls State quarterback Kalen Henderson in the 2013 UO season opener, a game Prevot remembers as being "super nervous" for in his college debut.
(Bruce Ely/The Oregonian)

EUGENE -- For the Oregon Ducks newcomers who start their college football careers Saturday in Autzen Stadium, the nerves will arrive far quicker than the 7:30 p.m. kickoff.

Lucky for them, four teammates who played in last season's opener as true freshmen have some advice: It will suck. And then it gets easier.

"I'll just tell them it's just a normal game," sophomore right guard Cameron Hunt said. "It's like at practice -- with just a couple more fans out there."

Just a couple.

More than 59,000 fans and a Pac-12 Networks audience will watch the third-ranked Ducks face South Dakota of the Football Championship Subdivision, both of which will turn Autzen into likely the biggest stage they newest Ducks have ever played on, and certainly moreso than UO's closed practices.

In the 2013 season opener against Nicholls, a 66-3 Ducks victory, Hunt debuted along with outside linebacker Torrodney Prevot, tight end Johnny Mundt and kicker Matt Wogan, who started on kickoffs. Two more true freshmen would make their debuts later that season.

This season Oregon tentatively plans to not redshirt nine freshmen, and three junior college transfers -- linemen Tui Talia, Haniteli Lousi and receiver Zach Schuller -- also dot the Ducks' depth chart.

On the opening day of fall camp on Aug. 4, head coach Mark Helfrich noted the Ducks had 40 newcomers on their roster in need of seasoning. At the end of fall camp three weeks later, he called the non-redshirting freshmen and transfers "the most advanced I've ever been around."

But that has been in practice, and no matter how chaotic an atmosphere Oregon creates with its uptempo, music-blaring practices, there's no simulating a game until the real thing, said sophomore outside linebacker Torrodney Prevot.

"You can tell they're shaky, they're making calls on the field but when it's time to come into the game and when Autzen gets crazy -- especially our crazy night games -- we'll see how they do," he said.

Prevot was quick to add he wasn't disparaging the new guys. He described his own mindset during his college debut "shaky" and "super nervous" -- not bad considering he finished the Nicholls game with five tackles, a seven-yard sack and a forced fumble.

Wogan kicked off 11 times against Nicholls, with one touchback and an average of 62.7 yards. He also sailed two kickoffs out of bounds, the product of nerves he couldn't quite rein in. Wogan, became UO's starting place-kicker later in his freshman season and retains both jobs as a sophomore, can now laugh off how much of a "wreck" he was before his college debut.

"I hope no one is where I was at last year," Wogan said. "I was definitely nervous but I feel like you've got to have some nerves. I had nerves in high school. Controlling them and just trusting them is huge. Other than that it's just going out there and doing what you've done.

"There are (freshmen) who it's like dude, you wouldn't be here if you weren't talented. That's the kind of stuff that helped me out rather than telling them, 'You're going to be nervous.'"

Nerves aren't the plight of newcomers alone, of course, nor are they viewed as a sign of weakness.

"I get jitters before every game," said junior quarterback Marcus Mariota two days before starting his third season opener at Oregon. "I've always been taught from my dad that it's natural, it means you care about the game and it means that you've prepared and just want to go out there and play. I'll get those jitters and usually they'll be out by the first play."

To calm his nerves, Hunt fills the hours before kickoff with country music. His mix of choice usually involves Florida Georgia Line and Luke Bryan, along with some positive affirmation that he'll be just fine when the headphones come off and the helmet comes on.

"Once you get those first couple hits," Hunt said, "You can get those nerves out."